


By Whatever Means

by Cydersyrup



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Lee Taeyong, Alpha Suh Youngho | Johnny, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Asexuality Spectrum, Discussion of Abortion, Emotional Hurt, Everyone Loves Suh Youngho | Johnny, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Miscarriage, Mpreg, Pack Dynamics, Platonic Soulmates, ruts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22150291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cydersyrup/pseuds/Cydersyrup
Summary: Taeyong drops the plate in his hands, and Johnny cringes when it shatters on the tile floor.“You what?” the pack leader hisses, eyes slowing glowing amber. “Say that again, Johnny.”“I’m—” Johnny whimpers, holding a hand to his belly. “I think I’m pregnant.”Taeyong watches him with horror and shock. Mark faints and Donghyuck fails to catch him. Jungwoo looks on the verge of a panic attack.“Johnny,” Taeyong says with as much calm as he could muster through the sheer panic coursing in him. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for an alpha—a male alpha of all people—to be pregnant?”
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 160





	1. Stage 1: Panic

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~~~  
> For some clarification before we begin:  
> In this take of ABO, any and all genders are able to be impregnated, including alpha and beta males.  
> Mentions of disturbing content such as rape, mpreg, miscarriage, and abortion are included, so reader discretion is advised!!!  
> That aside, enjoy!

“Where’s Johnny?”

It is 9 AM and that is officially the 7th time Taeyong’s heard the same question since he woke up. At this point he’s considering just waking up the entire house to announce Johnny’s absence so he could save himself the headache of repeating the answer over and over again.

“He’s still out from his little rendezvous last night, Doyoung,” Taeyong sighs, setting aside the dishes in his hands and turning his head to shoot the tall beta a _look_. “You know how he is at these times.” 

Doyoung scrunches up his face and raises a sweaterpaw to slowly rub at his eyes. “I really hope his rut kept his brain cells intact. I don’t want a lawsuit addressed to us ‘cause Johnny decided to knock someone up.”

Taeyong knocks on the cabinet door. “Don’t jinx us.”

“I was kidding, jeez.” Doyoung crosses over to the kitchen and rests his chin on Taeyong’s shoulder, his arms coming around to wrap around the alpha’s waist. Taeyong can smell his crisp, fresh scent—something of a mix of mint and summer fruits—and relaxes against Doyoung's hold.

“What’s for breakfast?”

Taeyong sets down the plate he just took out and gestures to the array of ingredients on the countertop next to him. “I was thinking pancakes and fruit. If Jaehyun’s up, can you get him down here to help cut the melon?”

Doyoung sighs and shuffles off to find his other mate. “Fine.”

No sooner has Doyoung left, Jungwoo bounces in, all happy smiles and caffeine-induced energy.

“Good morning!” he chirps, giving Taeyong a peck on the cheek. He smells like sugar and vanilla, and the scent alone brings a smile to Taeyong’s face. The omega is always so sweet in the morning, while everyone else usually stumbles in looking like zombies, their pheromones running high from either stress or lack of sleep. But Jungwoo always has a calm, peppy energy about him that just puts Taeyong completely at ease.

Taeyong smiles as he turns to set the large table before him. “Morning, Jungwoo. Are my brothers up yet?”

“Uh...no.” Jungwoo pouts in thought. “I think Mark and Hyuckie are still sleeping.”

“Do me a favor and wake them up for breakfast, alright?”

Jungwoo salutes. “Okie dokes. Hey wait, where’s John—”

“Morning, people,” Yuta interrupts, staggering into the kitchen with a much more composed and well-dressed Taeil behind him. The scent of cinnamon and earthy petrichor fills the room from the two betas’ arrival. “What’d we miss?”

“Not much,” Taeyong says, nodding at Doyoung and Jaehyun who appear a moment later. “Help me set up the table and wake up my brothers. We’re still waiting for Johnny to come back.”

“Damn, he’s been gone that long?” Yuta drawls, taking a stack of plates from Taeyong and placing it around the table. “I thought he’d just get laid and come back.” He glances at the clock hanging on the wall and frowns. “It’s been almost half a day. Should we be worried?”

Taeyong glances at the clock. True to what Yuta just said, it is getting close to almost an entire 12 hours since Johnny’s been gone to relieve himself of his rut. That is the longest he’s ever been gone for. Taeyong doesn’t want to worry himself over it too much, but he can’t help the ugly feeling of dread crawling up his stomach as thoughts to where Johnny might be plagued his mind.

“Johnny’s more than capable of handling himself, I’m sure,” Taeil says reassuringly as he makes his way into the kitchen and pulls out a pitcher of juice from the fridge. “He’s six-foot-one and a purebred alpha, through-and-through. I don’t think anyone would mess with that.”

“You’re right,” Taeyong sighs, turning away from his pack to focus on making breakfast. “You’re right, Taeil. Johnny’s fine. He’ll be back home any minute.”

* * *

Any minute turns out to be an hour later, when Taeyong is washing dishes and Taeil, Doyoung, Yuta, and Jaehyun left for work already. 

Johnny barges in through the door like a hiding fugitive, clothes mussed and dirty, with the saddest, most desolate expression on his face that Taeyong has ever seen. He slams the door shut and slides down against it, long limbs folding awkwardly around him as his chest heaves for air.

An alarm immediately goes off in Taeyong’s head at the state Johnny is in. There is blood on the edge of his lip and bruises littering his exposed neck, with one looking startling like a bite mark. A strange smell assaults his senses—a foreign scent, one not of his pack. Someone had attacked Johnny, Taeyong’s sure of it. And maybe not just someone, but some people. There is no way one person could make an alpha like Johnny wrecked to this extent.

Jungwoo and Donghyuck are on him in a moment, the two omegas working together to help Johnny up, which isn’t easy given his tall build and weight. They manage to get him standing, and with Mark’s help, sits him down carefully on the couch. Mark rushes over to the kitchen for a wet towel and returns to the couch to inspect the taller alpha for any serious injuries.

“Johnny, what happened to you?” Jungwoo asks as Mark gently dabs at the blood oozing from Johnny’s lip. Taeyong faintly registers himself turning off the tap and staring at his mate, watching as his pack fuss over Johnny, asking him all sorts of questions he doesn’t answer. Johnny’s eyes are unfocused. There’s tear tracks staining his cheeks and blood on his face. The deep, instinctive feeling of possessiveness boils in Taeyong and he clenches the plate in his hand so tight the ceramic cracks a little.

“Johnny,” Taeyong says, trying his best to not run over and make a scene. “What happened?”

Johnny stares at him with big, watery eyes, and Taeyong feels his heart break inside his chest.

“I...was attacked,” Johnny mumbles, diverting his gaze to the floor. “During my rut.”

“Holy shit,” Mark whispers. “Johnny, by who? Who attacked you?”

“I-I don’t know,” Johnny mumbles, his voice breaking as fresh tears began rolling down his face. Everyone watched in shock as the alpha started to unravel. “There were too many of them. I-I can’t remember. I-I don’t—” he broke off into a sob, chest heaving with the force of his cries.

“Johnny,” Taeyong repeated, feeling panic starting to build inside him. He can’t move. He can barely breathe. “Johnny, what’d they do to you?”

Johnny shakes his head. His cries have calmed down a little and he was sniffling into his hands. Jungwoo gently wraps his arms around the alpha in a comforting hug, letting his calming pheromones run to ease the tension in the room. 

Somehow, that sweet scent is doing nothing to calm the alpha instincts in Taeyong. The need to protect and understand is too strong.

“Johnny,” Taeyong says, his voice taking on the authoritative tone of a true pack leader. “Tell me what they did to you.”

Johnny looks up at him with big, glossy eyes, before he hangs his head in shame and runs a hand over his abdomen gingerly. “They—I—”

“Easy, Johnny,” Donghyuck said softly, running a comforting hand down Johnny’s arm. “Take it slow. What happened?”

Johnny takes a deep, steadying breath, before looking Taeyong in the eye. “Taeyong...I think they got me pregnant.”

There is a long pause as everyone took in the information. Taeyong feels his blood pressure beginning to spike dangerously.

Someone raped Johnny.

Someone impregnated Johnny.

There’s no fucking way. This can’t be the case.

Taeyong drops the plate in his hands, and Johnny cringes when it shatters on the tile floor.

“You _what_?” the pack leader hisses, eyes slowing glowing amber as the raw alpha in him began to emerge. “Say that again, Johnny.”

“I’m—” Johnny whimpers, holding a hand to his belly. “I think I’m pregnant.”

Taeyong watches him with horror and shock. Mark faints and Donghyuck fails to catch him. Jungwoo looks like he’s on the verge of cardiac arrest. 

“Johnny,” Taeyong says with as much calm as he could muster through the sheer panic coursing in him. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for an alpha—a male alpha of all people—to be pregnant?”

“I know!” Johnny breaks out into fresh sobs, covering his face in his hands. “I don’t know what to do! I don’t want this! I’m not ready!”

Taeyong feels his chest clench and turns to Jungwoo. “Jungwoo, a favor, please.”

The omega nods his head, still shaken.

“Call Taeil. Get him back home. Right now.”


	2. Stage 2: Regret

There are a lot of words to describe Moon Taeil.

Mature. Warm. Homely. Hospitable.

Just to name a few.

Taeyong is half-sure the crazed-looking maniac that kicks open the door and nearly tackles Mark to the floor is not Taeil.

“Where is he? Where is my baby?!” Taeil(?) shrieks, hair sticking up all over the place and eyes wide and darting with panic. His immaculate dress shirt and slacks that he wears to his lectures are rumpled and Taeyong’s fairly sure he can see something like a coffee stain near the shirt’s buttons.

“Taeyong!”

Taeyong barely has time to register anything before Taeil is grabbing him by the lapels and shaking him. “Where is he? Where is my Johnny? They broke my baby—WHERE IS HE?!”

For such a slight, mild-mannered beta, Taeil has one hell of a grip.

“Jungwoo and Hyuck took him for a warm bath just ten minutes ago,” Taeyong explains as calmly as he could, even though his heartbeat is booming in his ears. Taeil freaking out really isn’t helping much. “Taeil, listen, I’m as worried as you are, but we all need to calm down—”

“NO! Don’t you tell me to calm down, Lee Taeyong!” Taeil yells as he backs away and gestures at the room furiously. His pheromones have shifted from earthy petrichor to the air of a storm, and Taeyong can literally smell how upset he is. “I wake up this morning expecting Johnny home in one piece and functional! But no, NO! He comes back in pieces!” Taeil’s eyes have a red tinge to them that Taeyong has never seen before. “What do you have to say for yourself, Taeyong?! WHAT?!”

Taeyong stands in shock as Taeil’s words wash over him. The panic and worry in him is now long gone, replaced only with the weight of regret and failure. He is the pack leader. He is the one responsible for the safety of his pack members. Taeyong knows that Johnny likes to scout out casual hookups to relieve his rut, but he should have called or went with him or something.

He should have done _something_.

 _Anything_.

But because Taeyong trusts Johnny, he ended up doing _nothing_.

“I have no excuses,” Taeyong admits bitterly, hanging his head in shame. “He is my mate and I trusted him to take care of himself when he was at his most vulnerable. That’s the worst mistake I ever made. The blame is all on me.” He looks up at Taeil, who still stands fuming. “I failed as pack leader, Taeil. I deserve your wrath.”

That might be pushing it a little, but at this point, Taeyong is fully willing to accept whatever punishment Taeil plans on dishing out. The beta might not be pack leader, and he sure as hell isn’t the most imposing, but he has full seniority over Taeyong as the eldest and is one of the most respected. And while his gentle demeanor comes with an even temper, when Taeil loses it, HE FUCKING LOSES IT.

“Look,” Taeil sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose rather harshly. “Me punishing you is not gonna help Johnny or find the assholes who hurt him. And it’s not all your fault. I’m at fault as much as you are. I’m the eldest and I put blind faith in him. We’ll figure things out later, but right now, I need to see Johnny.”

Taeyong feels the words pierce through him like knives. Tears well in his eyes, not just from the brutal words, but also because of how true they are. He blinks them away, not trusting himself to keep his composure if he starts crying, and leads Taeil inside the house. 

* * *

Johnny is clean and clothed in a large, fluffy robe by the time Taeil and Taeyong enters his bedroom. Jungwoo is practically smothering the alpha in blankets and pillows, and Donghyuck is kneeling beside the bed, holding onto Johnny’s hand and whispering to him in a soft, quiet voice.

“Johnny,” Taeil breathes, scrambling over and dropping down next to Donghyuck. “Johnny, how are you feeling?”

Johnny’s eyes are red and puffy when they meet Taeil’s, but he smiles nonetheless. “Hyung, you’re here.”

“If any of my babies got hurt, I’d be here,” Taeil assures. “Do you feel comfortable enough to tell me what happened?”

Johnny looks over at Taeyong, eyes seemingly gauging for permission, and Taeyong gives a slight nod in response. Jungwoo and Donghyuck take this as their cue to leave, and they both hug Taeyong on their way out.

“He’ll be fine, hyung,” Donghyuck mumbles into Taeyong’s shirt from where he has his face pressed into his brother’s chest. His crisp, citrusy scent rolls over Taeyong in waves, and Taeyong embraces his brother tighter in silent thanks.

“Johnny hyung’s a fighter. It’ll be okay.” Donghyuck pulls away and looks up at Taeyong. “Taeil hyung will help him, we’re all gonna be here for him, and it’s gonna be alright.”

Taeyong smiles down at his little brother and feels his heart break all over again. He wants to believe what Donghyuck says, but he doubts the boy even understands the real extent of the damage. Maybe it’s better that he doesn’t. Once Jungwoo and Donghyuck have left the room, Taeyong makes his way over by Johnny’s bed.

“Johnny,” Taeyong whispers as he gently takes his mate’s hand and strokes it. “Baby, I’m so sorry I let you go through all of that alone. I should’ve been there but I wasn’t.”

Johnny shakes his head weakly. The bruises littered around his face and neck contrasts sharply with his pale skin. “Not your fault."

“Can you tell us what happened?” Taeil asks, his voice taking on the soothing, but authoritative tone of a doctor. “Go as far back as you can remember and take us from there.”

Johnny looks at Taeyong, then at Taeil, and back at Taeyong again. “It was about two hours past dinnertime,” he murmurs. The hand holding Taeyong’s tighten its grip. “I skipped it ‘cause my rut hit and my appetite was gone. I just wanted some relief, so I told Yongie I was headed out, and then I left. I went to my usual club, trying to find someone for a quick fuck, and well...” He trails off, looking terrified.

Taeyong pats Johnny’s hand reassuringly. “It’s okay, Johnny. We’re here. You’re home now. What happened?”

“I had a drink. Maybe two,” Johnny continues. “Then I got ready to leave, because nobody caught my attention. I was about halfway home, just wanting to ride out my rut in bed, but then some weird dude approached me.”

Taeyong feels his fangs start to emerge painfully as anger spikes in him. “What’d he look like, Johnny?”

Johnny pouts pitifully and shakes his head. “It was dark, and I couldn’t see very well because of the rut and alcohol...my vision was like a bad acid trip.”

“That’s okay,” Taeil soothes. “Go on.”

“Well, he asked if I was looking for someone to help me with my rut, and well...he must’ve been charming because I went with him. And then—” A sob breaks out of Johnny and he hides his face behind a hand. “—and then before I knew it I was in this house...and there were three, maybe four guys pouncing on me.”

Taeyong’s heart skips a beat. Three to four other alphas could’ve easily overpowered Johnny, especially if he was already inebriated and vulnerable in his rut.

“Th-they tore my clothes off and beat me,” Johnny sobs. “I tried fighting back but there were too many of them and I just...I just hurt everywhere.”

“You don’t have to continue right now if you’re not comfortable,” Taeil says, resting a gentle hand on Johnny’s forehead. “I think it’s best if you rest for a bit.”

“N-no, hyung...stay, please.” Johnny’s voice is raw and broken and it’s driving Taeyong insane to see his mate so shattered. “I was so scared, hyung. I-I was so scared when they had their way with me. It hurt so bad, hyung. It hurt so bad.”

Johnny is full-on crying now, and Taeyong pulls him into his chest as Johnny sobs hysterically into his embrace. It’s times like this that Taeyong sincerely wishes that he could produce calming pheromones like the rest of his pack, or have been born with a sex drive so he could fulfill his mate’s needs. That way, he won’t have to leave Johnny alone anymore.

But unfortunately, the world made Taeyong as he is.

A pheromone-less, asexual, sterile alpha.

And it is because of _him_ that poor Johnny suffered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Taeyong is a "stagnant alpha", which means that while he has all the biological functions of an alpha (enhanced sight, smell, hearing, speed, and strength), he is sterile, has zero sex drive, and can't produce pheromones (though he can detect them). There are also stagnant betas and omegas, though those are typically more common than stagnant alphas.


	3. Stage 3: Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter mentions a lot of violence. That doesn't mean such actions should be condoned in real life, but it's only for this story.  
> That aside, enjoy!

It’s been a full day and Taeyong feels like hell. Probably looks like it too, based on Mark’s insistence that he go take a shower and get some sleep every five minutes.

But Taeyong can’t sleep.

He spends the better part of two hours lying awake next to Johnny, holding his mate close to him, feeling Johnny’s even breathing and slow heartbeat. Taeyong lets his hand wander to Johnny’s abdomen, feeling his smooth, solid stomach.

For the first time since Johnny came back, Taeyong feels nothing but complete and utter heartbreak. Johnny had gotten hurt because of his blind faith, and there’s nothing in the world Taeyong could do that would turn back time so he could hold onto Johnny and never let him go.

“I’m sorry.” Taeyong lets a tear slip as he cradles Johnny closer, not caring how the taller alpha practically engulfs him. “I’m so sorry, Johnny. I’m so sorry.”

Johnny shifts in his sleep and mumbles something Taeyong can’t make out. The bruises on his face and neck are still prominent, even in the dark, and Taeyong presses gentle butterfly kisses over each one. 

“I love you,” he whispers, knowing Johnny can’t hear him. “I’ll never let you get hurt ever again, Johnny. Please forgive me.”

He lies there, holding Johnny for another half hour, until Taeyong simply can’t stand himself any longer, and gets out of bed. The air is chilly outside their blanket cocoon, and Taeyong throws on a cardigan before trekking out of the bedroom.

The living room lights are on, which isn’t surprising. What is surprising, however, is the little circle of people congregated on the living room carpet. Doyoung, Taeil, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Mark, Yuta, and Donghyuck are all sitting together, most with a laptop in front of them. There’s a map laid out in front of Mark and Donghyuck, and red sharpies and rulers litter the space around them.

Taeyong rubs his eyes, blinking at the sight before him. “What’s going on?”

“Hyung!” Mark and Donghyuck chorus. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I believe that’s my question to you guys.” Taeyong crouches down to look at the map and laptop screens. “It’s almost three in the morning. Mark, you and Hyuck have school tomorrow. What’re you all doing up so late?”

“Well,” Mark starts. “Hyuck and I are trying to pinpoint the areas Johnny might’ve been attacked at. Y’know, to scout out the enemy.”

“And once we get that done,” Donghyuck continues, drawing a big red circle on one corner of the map. “We find out who it is and murder them in cold blood.”

“They’ll never find the bodies,” Mark adds.

“We prepared for that.” Donghyuck and Mark exchange a hi-five. 

“We’ve been prepared.”

Taeyong feels both warmth and horror bloom in his chest. He loves his little brothers to death, but Donghyuck is evil enough and fully capable of murdering an alpha or even several alphas, given adequate time and planning, and Mark loves Johnny to bits and pieces. If it’s to protect and avenge Johnny, Mark would happily abandon all his morals and rip anyone’s throat out. 

“Let’s try not to jump to conclusions just yet. We barely know anything.” Taeyong rounds the circle and stops by Doyoung. “Doie, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Doyoung points at the screen in front of him. “I’m helping Mark and Hyuck scout out where Johnny might’ve been attacked using satellite imagery.”

“Where in your literature degree does it constitute stalking an unknown attacker?” Taeyong frowns at the screen. “That still doesn’t tell us much.”

“That’s why we have this.” Jaehyun lifts a large Ziploc bag holding a blood-stained shirt. “This is Johnny’s the night he was attacked. We’re having our resident hounds smell-track it.”

Taeyong’s eyes widen in shock. “You didn’t—”

“We want to.” Mark’s incisors poke past his lips when he speaks. “Hyung, we can’t let Johnny’s attackers just get away. Look at what they did to him!” 

All eyes are on Taeyong now. Jungwoo’s eyes are red-rimmed from crying. Jaehyun and Mark’s are glowing amber in silent rage. 

“We need to do something about this,” Yuta says, uncharacteristically calm. “We’ve wasted enough time.”

Taeyong sighs. “I know.” He’s furious, sad, and hurt over the whole thing. Johnny is nothing but kindness and humor and someone has taken that and shattered it into tiny pieces. Mark and Donghyuck want blood, and if Taeyong is being honest with himself, he wants to see the alphas who tormented Johnny die a horrible, violent death. 

“Patrol is Tuesday night, eleven o’clock.” He stands up straight and eyes the bloody clothes in Jaehyun’s grip. “If the hounds want to come with, you’re more than welcome to.”

Yuta grins ferally. “Now hyung, when have we ever turned down a call of duty?”

Mark nods. “We’ll be there.”

“Me too.” Jungwoo raises his hand. Taeyong nods his assent, and the omega smiles back gratefully. Sweet and gentle as he is, Taeyong knows from first-hand experience that Jungwoo can go complete apeshit when provoked. The last time an alpha tried to grope Jungwoo thinking that he was an easy omega, Jungwoo had judo-flipped him and dislocated both of his shoulders before anyone even had time to react.

Jaehyun even had to bail him out of jail once for almost killing a man.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Jungwoo says, pulling himself up to give Taeyong a gentle hug. “I’d be worried for those fuckers too.”

“I don’t believe in senseless violence,” Taeyong replies, looking down at Jungwoo and kissing his nose. “But I think we have cause for it now.”

* * *

Patrol night.

Taeyong’s pack—127—lives in a rather sleepy part of town, near the suburbs. The neighborhood is close-knit and Taeyong knows every person in his area by scent. Not much happens around this area, so patrol is more or less customary, but Taeyong takes his job as pack leader seriously. There are always rogue alphas out there looking to take over other packs, and with everything that’s been going on, Taeyong is _not_ going to take that chance.

“Gear up.” Taeyong pulls open his closet doors to reveal a wall mounted with protective gear and weapons. Yuta helps himself to the hand wraps while Mark pulls out a baseball bat and Jungwoo carefully takes out a metal hand claw.

As easygoing as Taeyong’s pack is on a regular basis, it helps to remind outsiders that 127 is not a pack to fuck with.

Taeyong picks up two identical hunting knives and tuck them, sheath and all, into his belt’s holsters. He pulls out his combat boots and fixes his hair back with a faded red bandana. This is patrol night, which means that armed or not, Taeyong has to pull all stops in asserting dominance.

When he finishes dressing and turns around, Yuta, Mark, and Jungwoo are decked out in comfortable street clothes and protective wear. Yuta has on his heavy steel-tipped boots. Mark has his knees covered with kneepads. Jungwoo has his hand claw on and is sharpening the blades idly. They all have a similar red bandana on their person—a symbol of their membership in Taeyong’s pack.

“Alright boys,” Taeyong announces, pointing to the darkness outside the window. “You know the drill.”

“If we see or smell anyone looking for trouble, show them we’re not ones to fuck around,” Yuta drawls with a smirk. 

“And if they’re whoever attacked Johnny?”

Mark grins and drops his bat against his palm. “Then we kill them!”

Taeyong loves his little brother’s enthusiasm to commit second-degree murder almost as much as he loves having Mark _not_ in prison. “No, but we give them what’s good and make sure they stay the hell away.”

“That’s what I said!”

Jungwoo rolls his eyes. “Markie, you jumped directly to murder.”

Yuta grins, reaching over to ruffle Mark’s hair roughly. “I think you’ve been hanging around Hyuck way too much, kid.”

Mark huffs and swats Yuta’s hand away. “Whatever. We gonna go now or like what?”

They walk as a group to the front door, passing by Doyoung who is hunched over his laptop on the floor, typing furiously away. He pauses in his work and looks up, meeting Taeyong’s eyes.

“You’re going on patrol right now?”

“Yeah.” Taeyong looks at his watch. “It’s already past eleven.”

“Prime prowling time,” Mark supplies helpfully. 

Doyoung frowns. “If you’re gonna go find and murder the bastards who hurt Johnny, I recommend you take your scent blockers first. And I know a place to hide the bodies. It’s quiet, secluded, and there’s a ton of wildlife there.”

“Doie, we’ll be fine,” Taeyong assures. “If anyone comes up accusing us of attempted murder, Jaehyun has enough evidence of Johnny’s rape and assault to send them to Hell with.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Taeyong.” Taeil suddenly rushes out from within the house, stopping himself a little bit behind Doyoung. “I need to talk to you.”

The urgency of his voice immediately puts Taeyong on edge. “What is it?” he asks, turning away from everyone’s concerned gaze. “Taeil, what happened?”

“Come with me.” Taeil grabs Taeyong’s wrist, tugged him back into the house, and into Johnny’s room. Naturally, Doyoung and the others followed, and soon the small space for one was filled with six more bodies.

Johnny is already asleep in bed, tucked in with plush blankets and a mountain of pillows that Taeyong recognizes as the omegas’ personal defense mechanism transferred into protecting the alpha. Ever since Johnny came home beaten up and broken that night, Taeyong has been adamant to keep him at home and taken care of. 

“What news, Taeil?” Taeyong looks between Johnny and the doctor next to him. “What happened?”

“Don’t ask me anything yet. Smell.”

Taeyong sniffs the air. Johnny’s homey laundry scent is laced in the air, just barely, but there is something more to the smell. Something heavier and...sweeter?

Mark, the most sensitive nose of the bunch, immediately clasps a hand over his mouth. “Oh my god, hyung…” he stares at Johnny in shock. “It’s happening? It’s really happening?”

Taeyong whips around to face Mark. “What’s happening?”

“Taeyong,” Taeil says gravely. “We all know that Johnny’s pregnant, right? This scent you smell? It’s Johnny’s body changing to accommodate the fetus.”

“But hyung’s an alpha,” Jungwoo quips, worry all over his face. “His body evolved to not be effective in child-bearing. What if he miscarries?”

“That’s the thing I wanted to tell you.” Taeil turns to Taeyong, eyes wide and frightened. “Taeyong, if Johnny proceeds with this pregnancy, it’s possible for his body’s immune system to identify the fetus as a foreign object and destroy it and his womb also. But if that doesn’t happen and the baby comes to term, well...Johnny’s body isn’t built for delivery, Yong.”

Taeyong feels his heart sink into his stomach. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we’ll have to resort to a C-section, if we’re lucky.” Taeil frowns. “Many alphas don’t even get that far. The baby’s antibodies and white blood cells will pass through the umbilical cord and into the parent’s bloodstream, and once it’s in—"

“The baby’s antibodies and cells will attack the parent,” Taeyong finishes, feeling dread pool inside his chest. “Either Johnny will miscarry and have his womb rupture from the inside, or the baby kills him once it’s grown enough.”

“Can we have a plan C?” Mark asks, grabbing at his hair in panic. “There has to be a plan C, come on!”

“The only plan C we have left isn’t something you might like,” Taeil sighs. “Before the fetus grows past the first trimester, we have to abort it.”

“Abortion?” The blood drains from Taeyong’s face. “Hyung, I’m no doctor but isn’t that extremely dangerous for alphas?”

Taeil nods. “Yes, because alphas have evolved to not give birth. Their wombs are extremely fragile. One wrong move, and we might be looking at emergency organ removal on top of an abortion.”

“Shit,” Yuta hisses. “How do we even approach this?”

“We don’t,” says Taeyong. “This is Johnny’s body. We should let him decide.”

“All of the decisions suck, though!” Mark complains. “It’s basically choose one and die!”

Taeil smacks Mark upside the head. “No, Mark. If you have an experienced surgeon perform the operation, Johnny will be fine.”

“Are you offering, hyung?”

Taeil looks shocked for a moment, then a sullen expression clouds over his face. “I can’t, Mark. Johnny’s part of our pack. I can’t live with myself if I accidentally hurt him. It’s too personal.”

Taeyong sucks in a breath and holds it. All they can do now is wait for Johnny to wake up and make his own choice. It’s his body to control, but it’s also his life at stake. Taeyong doesn’t know what he would do if something happens to go wrong and Johnny’s life is put into critical danger. That baby growing inside his mate is a ticking time bomb, and once again Taeyong feels like a complete failure of a pack leader.

“Hyung, you’re turning purple.” Mark waves his hand in front of Taeyong’s face, snapping him out of his reverie. “Hyung? Hyung, you need to breathe!”

Taeyong lets out his breath and sucks in a new lungful of air. His head clears a little, and he can sense the worried gazes his pack members are no doubt shooting him.

“I’m okay,” he assures, walking over to Johnny’s bedside and leaning down to press a kiss against his forehead. “We’re late for patrol. C’mon, let’s go.”

“Be careful,” Taeil calls as they leave the room. “Come home safe!”

"I'll have ammonia and soap on standby," Doyoung adds. "Pull all stops."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hounds: an unofficial title given to people (not necessarily alphas) with extremely sensitive senses of smell.  
> Mark and Yuta are the hounds of the pack, and Jungwoo is a monster in a sweet disguise.


	4. Stage 4: Sadness

The night air feels crisp and cool against Taeyong’s feverish skin as they walk down the street. His fingers still tingle from where they last touched Johnny’s skin.

“It’s dead quiet out here,” Yuta grumbles. He sniffs the air. “Smells regular, too.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.” Taeyong exhales a breath, watching it turn into a faint fog before him. “Mark, Yuta, did you get a good sniff out of the shirt?”

Mark nods. “Yeah. Whatever scent that alpha had, it’s absolutely disgusting.” He gags. “I’ll remember any smell that makes me sick.”

“And to think he marked Johnny like that,” Yuta growls. “Fucking pigs. I can’t even swallow properly, they make me sick.”

“Focus,” Taeyong says, looking straight ahead at the seemingly endless stretch of road before them. “If they come looking for trouble tonight, we give it to them. If not, we go home. Clear?”

“If not, we resort to less practical measures to hunt them down.” Yuta smirks at Taeyong’s glare. “Don’t look at me like that, Yong. You honestly think this is still the time to play nice and be civil? This is Johnny they hurt. Tell me, what did Johnny ever do to hurt anybody, huh? What did he do to deserve that?”

Taeyong falters. Yuta’s words sting with their honesty and it’s painful how right he is. Johnny has always been a gentle giant, a loyal friend, and a doting brother. He is everyone’s loving mate and always had so much love and happiness to share.

That is, until some unknown face appeared in the dead of night and burned it all to the ground.

Taeyong tastes blood as he stares ahead, watching the familiar neighborhood pass him by. “Johnny did nothing wrong,” he hisses through his teeth. “He did nothing to deserve this.”

“Then we do something about it,” Mark says resolutely. His hand reaches out and grabs Taeyong’s wrist. “Hyung, speak of the devil.”

Taeyong’s head snaps up, his eyes zeroing in on an approaching figure not too far away from them.

Mark scowls. “He reeks.”

“Familiarly,” Yuta adds. He leans in closer to Taeyong and whispers, “He’s one of the fuckers who messed with Johnny.”

Taeyong growls, feeling all the anger, pain, and dread pool and mix inside him, turning into white-hot rage. His nails dig into his palms with the effort to not run forward and smash the other alpha’s head into the concrete. 

“Hyung, he’s not alone.” Mark points at three other shadows trailing behind the first guy. “His gang’s with him.”

“Okay, so I don’t condone murder,” Taeyong snarls. His words sound unconvincing, even to himself. “But whatever happens tonight, we don’t talk to Johnny about. Understood?”

“Yes,” Mark, Yuta, and Jungwoo chorus.

“Good. Now spread out.”

* * *

The rest of the night passes in a blur. Taeyong remembers seeing the alphas who attacked Johnny, feeling the angriest he’s ever been in his life, the cool wind lashing at his face, then nothing but red.

His vision finally cleared after what seemed like forever, and the first thing Taeyong registers is that there’s the familiar metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

The second thing he notices is that Jungwoo is standing off to the side, his back turned and talking to someone on the phone. The omega’s claw is dripping with blood, and his voice is muffled and deliberately quiet as he talks. Just a little off to his right, Mark is hauling a mangled body over his shoulder and towards Yuta, who is holding open a large black garbage bag.

Taeyong closes his eyes and sighs deeply. 

_‘How am I supposed to explain this to Taeil?’_

When the patrol hours end and the sun begins to light up the sky, Taeyong returns home perfectly safe.

Safe and drenched in blood.

Though to be fair, Yuta, Mark, and Jungwoo didn’t fare any better. All three of them are all spattered with varying degrees of blood. Mark’s baseball bat hangs limply in his hand, bits of blood and flesh sticking to its metal surface. Jungwoo’s arms are soaked completely through in red, all the way up to the elbow.

Taeil almost faints when he sees them come in. “What the hell happened to you? Whose blood is that?”

“Not ours,” Yuta sniffs, licking a red streak that’s crawling down his arm. “Wait, this one might be mine.”

“What did you do?”

Mark grins and opens his arms for a hug. “We killed them, hyung! They’re dead! Gone! Aren’t you proud of us?”

Taeil looks mortified, and Taeyong genuinely thinks that his little brother is turning into a sociopath. 

“Mark’s right, Taeil. They won’t bother any of us anymore.” 

Taeil sets down his tie and puts his hands on his hips. “And what happened to the bodies?”

“Oh, we called Doyoung and he told us how to dispose of it.”

“Oh?” Taeil turns around to glare at Doyoung, who shrugs nonchalantly and continues to sip his morning coffee. 

“I hope you’re satisfied, then.” Taeil picks up his tie again and fixes it in seconds. “Did it feel good? To murder other people in cold blood?”

Yuta smirks. “Why? You regret not joining us?”

“Shut up, Yuta.” Taeil glares at the beta and turns his eyes to Taeyong. “Was it worth it? Will it help you sleep at night?”

Taeyong looks at Taeil, then at his hands, stained red with blood, then towards the hall, where Johnny is still sleeping, safely tucked up in bed.

“Yes.”

Taeil hums, and turns around to grab his briefcase. “I have first aid out in my bathroom. Go clean up. If any of you need me, just give me a call.”

Jungwoo watches as Taeil gets ready to leave. “Hyung, you’re really okay with us just doing stuff like this?”

“Look, at this point I don’t really care what you do.” Taeil pulls on his dress shoes and levels a hard stare at all of them. “So long as it keeps our pack safe.”

Taeyong looks down at the blood on his hands, and reminds himself that Taeil is right.

* * *

It takes a while—too long if Taeyong is being honest with himself—but finally, he gathers all the courage he has and goes to Johnny to ask the question that’s been looming over all of them.

“Johnny,” Taeyong starts, sitting Johnny down at the dining table. “Do you want to keep the baby?”

Johnny looks at Taeyong, eyes wide and still slightly red, and then at Taeil, who stands a couple feet away, his presence a calming weight amidst all the tension. The rest of their pack are gathered around the area, all listening in, but giving enough distance so that Johnny doesn’t feel smothered.

“Yong, I...I don’t want this baby,” Johnny says after a long pause. His abdomen is barely swollen with a bump, and Taeyong watches as Johnny’s large hand smoothes over the tiny swell of his belly gently. 

“Okay.” Taeyong sits down at the table next to Johnny and takes his free hand. “What do you want to do with it, then?”

“I don’t want it...at all.” Johnny holds his head in his hands, his fingers trembling. “I don’t want to remember...I don’t want to remember any of it.”

“Do you want to abort it?” Taeil prompts gently. Johnny raises his head and nods weakly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I just...I just can’t. I can’t do it.”

“That’s alright,” Taeyong assures, leaning over to press a kiss to Johnny’s temple. “It’s totally your choice. This is your body and your safety.”

“I’ll make an appointment for you,” Taeil quips, already pulling out his phone. “A good colleague of mine specializes in obstetric surgery. We’ll have you taken care of, Johnny. Don’t worry about a thing.”

There seems to be a sort of mutual understanding that passes between everyone, because within the next second, Doyoung and Mark are beside Johnny, gently pulling him up and guiding him towards the bedrooms while Donghyuck and Jungwoo each take one of Taeyong’s hands. Donghyuck nuzzles against his brother’s neck, his pheromones saturating the air around them as Jungwoo presses small kisses against the side of Taeyong’s face in an act of comfort.

The relief is there, lifting a huge weight off Taeyong’s chest, but for some reason, he also feels incredibly sad.

Maybe, Taeyong thinks, that somewhere inside him, he was hoping for a baby. A baby between him and Johnny—a child to call their own and raise with love and care. Their little one would be spoiled with affection from the entire pack, and grow up with a group of doting parents and uncles to take care of them. 

It's something Taeyong thinks that he’s been dreaming about for a long time.

But not in this way.

Everything about this pregnancy is just wrong.

They all knew it.

“It’s okay, hyung,” Donghyuck murmurs, hugging Taeyong around the waist. “It’s okay to be sad.”

Jungwoo hums in agreement. “It’s just a bad circumstance. We’ll get over it. We will.”

Taeyong doesn’t feel the tears, but he does feel Jungwoo’s hand against his cheeks, gently brushing them away.

“I had hoped…that if we ever had a child...that they would at least be ours,” Taeyong chokes out between deep breaths. “And now...we had an opportunity. But everything’s just messed up.” He takes another breath, steadies himself, and looks out to where Johnny disappeared off to. “It’s wrong. Everything’s wrong.”

“Are you saying that there’s something wrong with you too?” Donghyuck asks quietly.

Taeyong doesn’t know how to respond to that. There’s a lot of things he has done right, but at the same time, just as many that he’s done wrong. He loves Johnny with all his heart, and will always prioritize the safety of his mates and his pack over his own. He worked hard to keep their pack in power and their neighborhood safe from outsiders.

But then...this.

How could he answer the question now?

“I don’t know.” Taeyong looks at Donghyuck, and sees the boy’s heart break through his eyes. “I really don’t know, Hyuck.”

Donghyuck looks like he wants to say something else, but Taeyong pulls away from his little brother and Jungwoo and heads towards his shared room with Johnny. His chest is hurting in a different way—a suffocating, heavy pain that makes everything inside him feel like dead weight.

When Taeyong is alone in a bathroom at the far end of the hall, he presses himself against the door for support, barely breathing. He manages a brief glance of himself in the mirror, taking in the dark circles and hollowness he sees in a face he no longer recognizes.

Then everything gives away, and Taeyong can’t find it in himself to even be human anymore.

* * *

Back in the dining room, Donghyuck crouches down against a wall, clamps his hands over his ears, and pretends that he doesn’t hear his oldest brother breaking completely.

Jungwoo sits down next to the younger omega, and Yuta sits down next to him. 

Jaehyun wipes his palms against his eyes and doesn't try to hide the action.

Taeil finishes his conversation on the phone and gently pulls Jaehyun into a hug.

They all stay and wait together, until the sounds of crying quiets down into soft sniffles, and then throughout the silence that follows after.

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of my experimentation with the flexible world of ABO dynamics, so please be patient with me (>.<) Thank you so much for reading!! If you enjoyed this, please leave a kudos or comment! :)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/Cydersyrup)  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/Cydersyrup)


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